Pressing machine



1954 'r. BOKICH 2,696,684

PRESSING MACHINE Filed Sept. 20. 1951 United States Patent PRESSING MACHINE Tony Bokich, Gary, Ind.

Application September 20, 1951, Serial No. 247,421

1 Claim. (Cl. 38-1) This invention relates to improvements in pressing machines, such as, for example, Hoffman Model X pressing machines manufactured and sold by United Staggs Hoffman Machinery Corporation of New York, N.

Such pressing machines have a supporting base and a buck and a pivoted head supported thereby for performing the pressing operations. The head may be manually closed or may be closed by a main foot lever. The head may be manually released for opening or may be released for opening by a release pedal. Steam may be manually supplied to the head or may be supplied under control of a head spray pedal. Steam to the buck may be controlled by a buck spray pedal and vacuum to the buck may be controlled by a vacuum pedal. The main foot lever and the various pedals, including the head spray, vacuum, release and buck spray pedals, extend forwardly through a front opening near the bottom front of the supporting base of the pressing machine to be depressed by the feet of the machine operator. Short compression springs located between the base of the machine and screw-threaded plugs carried by the pedals have been utilized for raising these pedals. This pedal raising means, however, has been entirely unsatisfactory because of frequent breakage of these short springs, inaccessibility of the same for replacement purposes, time consumed in replacement of these springs, difiiculty in adjustment of these compression springs, the limited amount of adjustability available, and the large amount of foot pressure required by the machine operation. In the normal operation of these pressing machines it is quite common to break at least five or six of these springs a week. This becomes an expensive item in the operation of these machines when difficulty in replacement and adjustment and lay down time are considered.

The principal object of this invention is to provide improved means for raising the pedals of such pressing machines wherein the foregoing diificulties are eliminated or minimized, wherein spring breakage is entirely eliminated or materially minimized, wherein a wide range of adjustability is provided, whergin adjustment is readily and quickly made from the front of the machine, and wherein foot pressure by the operator is materially reduced.

' In accordance with this invention a bracket is secured to the front face of the supporting machine above the front opening therein and overlying the pedals. A tension spring capable of a wide range of adjustment is connected between each pedal and the bracket for biasing the pedals upwardly. Means accessible from the front of the machine are also provided for readily and quickly adjusting these tension springs. In this connection a plug may be secured as by screw threads in a hole in each pedal and may be provided with an upwardly extending eye. The eye may be formed by securing a cotter pin in a hole in the plug. One end of the tension springs may be connected to these eyes. The other ends of these tension springs may be connected to screw-threaded hooks received in holes in the bracket, which holes overlie the pedals. A nut screw-threadedly carried by each of the hooks is accessible in front of the machine for adjustably positioning the hooks and, hence, the tension of the tension springs.

Further objects of this invention reside in the details of construction of the pedal raising means and its association with the pressing machine. Other objects of this "ice invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the accompanying specification, claims and drawing in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a pressing machine with the pedal raising means of this invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a partial enlarged elevational view looking from the right of Fig. l with a portion of a pedal shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a partial enlarged front elevational view looking from the left in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a plug carried by the pedals; and

Fig}. 5 is a vertical sectional View through the plug of Fig.

Referring now to Fig. 1, a pressing machine is generally designated at 10 and, for example, may be a Hoffman Model X pressing machine manufactured and sold by United States Hoffman Machinery Corporation of New York, New York. Such a pressing machine usually includes a hollow supporting base 11 which in turn carries a buck 12 by means of a buck support 13. A pivoted head 14 is also pivoted to the supporting base at 15 for movement into and out of engagement with the buck 12. The head 14 may be manually closed by a handle 16 and released for opening by a head release member 17. A head valve 18 may be utilized for controlling the application of steam to the head. The head 14 may also be closed by a main foot lever 19 and released by a release pedal 20 for opening movement. The supply of steam to the head may also be controlled by a head spray pedal 21. The supply of steam to the buck 12 may be controlled by a buck spray pedal 22. The application of vacuum to the buck 12 may be controlled by a vacuum pedal 23. The pedals 20, 21, 22 and 23 are pivotally mounted within the hollow supporting base 11 and extend forwardly through a front opening 25 at the bottom of the front face 26 of the hollow supporting base 11. The front face 26 of the hollow supporting base 11 also has an opening 27 through which extends the main foot lever 19. The construction thus far described is conventional in the art and a further description thereof is not considered necessary.

The pedal raising means of this invention is illustrated in more detail in Figs. 2 to 5. In this respect, each pedal 20, 21, 22 and 23 is provided with a vertically extending screw-threaded hole 30 which screw-threadedly receives a screw-threaded plug 31. This plug 31 has a central hole 32 for receiving a cotter pin 33, the eye 34 of the cotter pin 33 extending upwardly and the bottom portion 35 of the cotter pin being peened over for securing the cotter pin 33 in the plug 31. The cotter pin 33, therefore, forms the upwardly extending eye 34 which is firmly carried by the associated pedal.

Suitably secured, as by welding, bolting or the like, to the front face 26 of the hollow supporting base 11 is a bracket 37 which overlies the plugs 31 in the pedals. This bracket 37 is provided with a plurality of holes in alignment with the pedal plugs 31 and each hole receives a screw-threaded hook 38 having a downwardly located hook portion 39. The upper end of each hook 38 screwthreadedlv carries a nut 40 which bears against the bracket 37 so that by adjusting the nut 40 the position of the hook 38 may be adjusted with respect to the bracket 37. The lower ends of a plurality of tension springs 41 are connected to the upwardly extending eyes 34 carried by the pedals and the upper ends thereof are connected to the hooks 39 of the hook members 38. The tension springs 41. accordin ly, o erate to bias upwardly the pedals 20. 21, 22 and 23 and the amount of biasing action, that is. the tension in the tension sprin s 41, may be varied by manipulating the nuts 40. In this way a large degree of adjustment of the tension springs is provided and this adjustment may be readily and quickly accomplished from the front of the pressing machine. The pedal raising means is entirely exposed and open for ready inspection, adjustment and repair when necessary. By the use of this pedal raising means spring breakage is entirely eliminated or at least reduced to an utter minimum. The operation of the pedals may be readily adjusted to fit the capabilities of the machine operator. These relatively long adjustable tension springs also reduce 3 foot pressure required by the operator by about 50% over that required by the short compression springs of the prior art. The construction of the pedal raising means is simple and foolproof in operation and may be inexpensively manufactured and applied to pressing machines.

While for purposes of illustration one form of this invention has been disclosed, other forms :thereof may become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to this disclosure and, therefore, .this invention is to :be limited only by the scope of the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

In a pressing machine including a supporting base having a front opening near the bottom thereof and a plurality of pivoted pedals extending forwardly through the front opening for controlling head spray, vacuum, release, buck spray and the like of the pressing machine, each pedal having a hole therein adjacent the front face of the supporting base, a bracket secured to the front face of the supporting base above the front opening and provided with a hole above the hole in each pedal, a plug having an upwardly extending eye secured in the hole in each pedal, a screw-threaded hook located in each hole in the bracket above the respective plugs, a nut carried by each screw threaded hook for adjustably positioning the same in the bracket, and a tension spring connected between each screw threaded hook and the eye of its respective plug for adjustably biasing the pedals upwardly.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,089,385 Betz Mar. 3, 1914 1,374,261 Waream etlal Apr. 21, 1921 1,633,260 Ledbetter June 21, 1927 1,668,501 Goldstein May 1, 1928 2,555,967 Goldman June 5, 1951 

